Lady Cards take 5th Place at the State B

The Langdon-Edmore-Munich Cardinals were making their second straight trip to a State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament when they played at the Betty Englestad Sioux Center February 28-March 2.

By JAKE KULLANDRepublican Sports Writer

Also for the second straight year, the Cardinals drew a tough opponent in the first round and lost to Kindred 58-43 then recovered to win the consolation title with wins over Shiloh Christian 48-34 and Kidder County 53-42. The Lady Cards finished another fantastic season with a record of 23-3, and they do not have a senior on the roster, so everyone will be back next year.

When asked about the season overall, Head Coach Rob Scherr said, “This team grew as much as any team I have coached in my career. They developed as individuals as the season went on which made us a better team at the end.”

Here is a recap of the Lady Cards three games at the State B:

Kindred 58, Langdon-Edmore-Munich 43

In their first game of the tourney, the Cardinals faced Kindred, a team that won the State B title two years ago and would do it again this year. Many thought that the Vikings deserved to be a seeded team, their only losses to North Dakota teams was a close one with Grafton and a three overtime loss to Thompson.

The two teams mirrored each other with pressure defense the entire game. Both clubs had a few tournament jitters in the first quarter, but Langdon-Edmore-Munich toughed out a 7-6 lead after the first quarter. In the second the Cards seemed to wear down the Vikings, but they couldn’t string together enough baskets to get a big lead. Jordyn Bruner hit a 3-pointer just before halftime to give Kindred a 19-16 advantage at the break.

Both teams’ offenses were much smoother in the third quarter, as Callie Ronningen had seven points in the third and Kaylee Lowery six. But Abby Duchscherer had 12 for the Vikings, and Kindred took a 39-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

Ronningen would foul out half way through the final frame, and Kindred would make 11 fourth quarter free throws to get the win.

The Cardinals would have two players reach double figures in the loss. Ronningen had 16 points plus six rebounds and three blocked shots. Lowery finished with 14 points and eight boards. Duchscherer had a game high 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals for Kindred.

After the loss to Kindred, the Cardinals met the Skyhawks in the consolation semifinals on March 1. Langdon-Edmore-Munich continued to play great defense in the first half, especially, holding Shiloh to just eight points while building a 24-8 halftime lead. Kaylee Lowery led the team with nine first half points.

The Lady Cards just sort of maintained that lead in the second half to get the win. Callie Ronnigen ended up with a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Morgan Freije had 11 points and six boards while Lowery totalled 10 and six. Grace Kelly had 18 points in the second half to lead the Skyhawks with 20.

The Cards finally got their offense clicking in their last game of the tourney against top-seeded Kidder County, who was upset in the first round by Rugby. Lexi Olson got things rolling with two first half 3-pointers and 10 points at the break.

Leading by nine going into the third quarter, the Cardinals showed their great ability to make free throws, as they went 16 for 20 from the line in the second half to preserve the lead and get the win. Callie Ronningen, again, would lead the Lady Cards in scoring with 17 points, 10 rebounds plus five blocked shots to get her second double-double of the tourney. Olson had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Kaitlynn Scheer had 12 points and went 10 for 12 from the free line all in the fourth quarter. Brittany Rath led the Wolves with 13 points.